Ballard’s Balancing Budget Act
The Ballard administration says it will pass a budget on September 22 that forces the city to live within its means, even though the budget may not quite look the way it was introduced.
Nearly $2.6 million was added for the township assessors. Originally, funding was going to eliminated based on a November referendum, however Councilors were hesitant to eliminate the funding without knowing the results of the referendum. The administration had hoped to save $3 million, that number is now closer to $400,000.
There are still cuts in the Parks budget. The Council Parks and Recreation Committee appropriated only $1 million for arts programs, down $543,000 from last year. The only “no” vote was City-County Councilor Vernon Brown, who said the Parks Department should have more money.
However, the largest gap still appears to be that between the Mayor and Sheriff. Frank Anderson submitted a budget this past week $19 million smaller than his original request, but still $7 million more than what Mayor Ballard wanted to spend. Talks are centering around the funding of Jail II, which is seeing its payments delayed under Anderson’s plan. A committee vote on the Sheriff’s budget, as well as the rest of public safety, will take place on Monday.
Through accounting and better cash management city officials still believe they can come out ahead. As last count the city had a remaining fund balance of about $3 million, which is down from the original estimate of $4.8 million.
